Congress Urged To Expand Broadband Access For People With Disabilities
June, 2005

from Telecom Reports:

Congress should ensure that the deaf community and people with other disabilities have the same access to broadband communications services that the 1996 Telecommunications Act promised them for standard phone service, the National Association of the Deaf and other advocacy groups said today at a Capitol Hill demonstration of broadband video technology that enables direct communications between parties using sign language. Among the specific suggestions offered was establishing financial support for broadband service to persons with disabilities, similar to the Lifeline support currently in place for standard phone service to low-income subscribers. Kelby Brick, the director-law and advocacy at the NAD, said such an approach is needed because support for voice lines doesn't help the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Mr. Brick also said that a lack of compatibility among various video phone cameras is a problem and that the NAD wants Congress to mandate that the FCC recognize that the disability access and compatibility provisions of section 255 of the 1996 Act apply to video phone service. There is a pending petition before the FCC that would require compatibility for Video Relay Service phone service, but that wouldn't help parties who communicate directly, independent of relay service interpreters, he said.

Andrew J. Imparato, president and chief executive officer of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said there were many ways to achieve interoperability, including gaining the voluntary cooperation of industry.

The event, sponsored by the AAPD, the NAD, and TDI (formerly Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc.) in cooperation with Rep. Fred Upton (R., MI.), the chairman of the House telecommunications and the Internet subcommittee, also featured the unveiling of a report by Frank Bowe, the NAD s governmental affairs consultant and a professor of counseling, research, special education, and rehabilitation at Hofstra University. The report suggests that many communications problems faced by the disabled could be solved by language in a bill introduced by Sen. John McCain (R., AZ.) in 2002, which would have required consumer broadband services and equipment be made accessible by people with disabilities.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D., NY), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke at the event and urged the sponsoring organizations and other advocates for persons with disabilities to "let us know" what provisions need to be included in planned telecommunications regulatory overhaul legislation to ensure access to broadband services. He said, "You have lots of friends on both sides of the aisle, especially on Energy and Commerce Committee. We just need to figure out how" best to craft legislative solutions to the problems raised today and in the report.

Reps. Upton and Edolphus Towns (D., NY) also spoke at the event in support of broadband access for persons with disabilities. - Lynn Stanton.

Member Benefits | About AAPD | Join | Disability Resources | News | Contact Us | Calendar | Home